California GOP frontrunner Steve Hilton blasts Newsom fearmongering

California’s Republican gubernatorial front-runner Steve Hilton blasted Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom for “scaremongering” after the governor suggested he had a contingency plan if Democrats appeared to be in danger of being shut out of the general election.

California’s primary elections are in just two weeks, and under the state’s primary system, in which the top two vote-getters advance regardless of party, both Democrats and Republicans fear they will be left unrepresented in the general election.

Newsom expressed concern about a Republican shutdown last Thursday during a press conference, explaining that he had a “breaking glass scenario” to ensure Democrats were not “left out.”

“A lot of people completely understand what it would look like if Democrats were locked out, and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Newsom said. “I’ll leave it at that.”

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Former MSNBC host Joy Reid is warning that California Democrats risk losing ground in the gubernatorial race, arguing that the state is essential to the party’s national political future. (Getty Images)

Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom’s office for further comment.

Hilton claimed Newsom’s comments were a tactic aimed at dividing Republican voters between him and Republican candidate Chad Bianco.

“He is not trying to prevent a top-two Republican result because that is not possible and never has been,” Hilton said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Chad Bianco is far behind in polls and fundraising, and has no chance of being in the top two.”

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Governor Gavin Newsom signs an executive order to expand women’s access to capital and wealth-building opportunities during a press conference at San Lorenzo High School in San Lorenzo, California, March 18, 2026. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

RealClearPolitics polling averages show Hilton leading the field of candidates, followed closely by Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra. Meanwhile, Bianco is in fourth place.

Hilton argued that it would be Newsom’s “ideal scenario” to have two Democrats face off, saying it would distract from Newsom’s “terrible record” as he eyes a 2028 presidential run.

“Newsom and Democrats are fearmongering about an R-versus-R matchup in the general election precisely to encourage Republicans to split their votes, thereby guaranteeing an all-Democratic top two,” Hilton said in a statement for Fox News Digital.

In a video posted to

Political strategists said there is a legitimate fear among Democrats and Republicans that their party could be shut out of the general election because of the jungle primary system, which went into effect after voters approved it in a 2010 statewide referendum.

Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, Democratic candidate for governor, speaks during a roundtable discussion with representatives of the Child Guidance Center of Santa Ana on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

“This is really the first gubernatorial election where there’s no clear winner, which is why it’s so tense,” Richard Winger, owner of Ballot Access News, told Fox News Digital.

Winger and former Democratic Sen. Dario Frommer pointed to other races where the seat was open and two candidates from the same party were running against each other in the general election.

“Republicans were shut out of the U.S. Senate primary in California in 2018, when the top two vote getters were Kamala Harris and Rep. Linda Sanchez, and there have been other races where Republicans or Democrats were shut out of the general election because of the top two finishers,” Frommer, who is now a legislative strategist, told Fox News Digital.

“I think early on the Democratic Party was genuinely concerned because there were so many Democratic candidates that Hilton and Bianco were going to be the first two getting votes,” Frommer told Fox News Digital. “Now it’s changed a little.”

Frommer said that, based on current polls, the top two vote-getters would likely be Hilton, Becerra and Democratic candidate Tom Steyer.

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But at the same time, Frommer said Democrats aren’t clear either.

“Usually there are a lot more people voting at this point, but that’s not the case, and so I think that concern is real for Democrats, that people are waiting too long to fill out their ballots, and there are only two Republican candidates,” Frommer told Fox News Digital.

Fear that either party could be shut out of this fall’s general election has prompted Democratic strategist Steven Maviglio to mount a ballot initiative campaign to eliminate the jungle primary system, a measure that could appear on the 2028 ballot.

“I think if two Republicans or two Democrats show up to the polls, then the voter outrage will be great, and it will just focus on the failure of this experiment,” Maviglio said of the jungle primary system.